In a 16-man bracket, it is anyone’s game. Just as it was in Tokyo three years ago, each weight category set to be contested at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will start in the round-of-16. One win puts a wrestler in the quarterfinal. Two victories means knocking on the door for the chance to fight for gold. It is not hard to follow. The only peripheral concept that all must accept is, likewise, altogether simple: for an athlete to advance far in the tournament requires putting forth the most complete and inspired effort of their entire careers. It is this way for the four Americans who will be suiting up for Greco-Roman beginning on Monday, and it is the same for everyone else from every other country. 

Again, simple. 

But the four-man U.S. Greco-Roman Olympic Team does seem to have carried with them to France a unique level of interest compared to other recent Olympiads, an unmistakable air that reaches beyond the mat. Part of it is perhaps due to the human interest stories surrounding each athlete. 

Greco superstar Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP) was forced to navigate overwhelming grief this past winter after the sudden, tragic passing of Army wrestler Estrella Dorado Marin. Not long after, the loss of Colorado ref Gerald Flores deeply affected Bey, and then after that, he lost an uncle, as well. At both the Pan-Am Championships and the Pan-Am Olympic Qualifier in February, Bey was not right. He just wasn’t. For someone as naturally kind and sensitive as Bey is and has been, the separation between sport and everyday life is difficult to reconcile. It all overlaps. Bey wrestles as much to win as he does, oddly, to share and express his passion for those closest to him. If one component of that equation is unbalanced, he is not the same athlete with whom most are familiar, which is to say the one lighting up scoreboards and smiling broadly at the end of tough matches. 

During and after the Olympic Trials, Bey course-corrected. He next needed to place in the top-3 (i.e., not just bronze, but “true third”) at the World Olympic Qualifier in May. He came within an inch, falling to ‘21 World silver Zoltan Levai (HUN) in the playoff round. Bey took it on the chin with class, and soon returned home to reassess his plans for the summer. Soon enough, everything changed. A month after the World Qualifier, the United States was awarded a 77-kilogram quota for the Paris Olympics because Russian Sergey Semenov had been deemed ineligible by the International Olympic Committee. Semenov had defeated Bey in the World qualifying tournament (with a pair of  curious leg foul calls the main reason why). Since Bey had wrestled all the way back to the “true third” match, the USA was next in line to receive a bid, which naturally and via program procedures went to Bey. 

Prior to April 20, few outside of USA Greco-Roman knew much about Payton Jacobson. He had made the National Team in ‘22, fell just short of doing so again in ‘23 – and although his uncommon potential was not exactly a secret, one had to be locked into all things Greco to fully appreciate Jacobson’s trajectory. He had initially established himself in the 77 kg division, the weight class in which he qualified for the Olympic Trials. But Jacobson had designs on moving up to 87 and, after a test drive at Thor Masters in March, he was ready to go. 87 kilograms at the Olympic Trials was, objectively, the most loaded bracket in the event. Every single entrant, basically, was a threat to not just emerge from the challenge tournament, but also provide Spencer Woods with a stiff test. There were many other reasonable names at which people were pointing to do just that. Ben Provisor, Zac Braunagel, Rich Carlson, Mahmoud Sebie, John Stefanowicz, Ryan Epps, Fritz Schierl… Instead, it was the 21-year-old fanatical workhorse who ran the table and eventually downed Woods in what was a tight best-of-three series. 

Although Bey had taken a somewhat similar route earlier in his career, Jacobson’s ascension to the Olympic Team brought with it yet another very compelling piece of evidence that Greco-Roman in this country will not grow nor sustain at the Senior level without athletes committing to the cause on a full-time basis while still in their teens. Jacobson has focused solely on Greco-Roman training and competition for five years. In the U.S., such a thing is considered unique. Everywhere else on the planet where Greco is treated as a relevant style, 16 years old is thought of as too late. Jacobson making the Olympic Team for himself as an individual competitor is indeed of exceeding importance. But his doing so is just as crucial when it comes to convincing donors, investors, and sponsors that funding high schoolers to pursue this style full-time might represent the only chance the U.S. has of regaining its status as a top international program. Jacobson didn’t win the Trials to become the poster boy for this cause, but, at least for the moment, that is precisely what has happened. 

Following his finals victory at the Olympic Team Trials in April, Joe Rau (97 kg, TMWC) could not help but mention the irony. In ‘16, Rau, then a member of the Minnesota Storm, won the Olympic Trials but was unable to qualify his weight class. Fast-forward to ‘20, Rau qualified his weight class but (one year later due to the COVID-influenced postponement) did not win the Trials. This past season, Alan Vera qualified the weight class but it was Rau who emerged from the Trials. 

It’s a lot to go through, but that’s Rau. There are not many athletes who have worn their proverbial hearts on their sleeves as often, or as scraped-knee raw, as him. He is never shy to share his perspectives and often walks a fine line between humorous self-deprecation and ultra-serious when ruminating aloud. He is also not much different whether there are a bunch of microphones in his face or it’s just you and him alone in a room. Rau’s candor has played a large role in his popularity, which has only grown on the heels of his win in April. He is relatable to everyone from young age-groupers and fellow Senior athletes to anonymous club coaches and fans in the stands. There were many people who felt that he had been wronged at the ‘20 Trials, and it is this same crowd who have gotten behind him for this run to Paris with a degree of enthusiasm that is maybe more pronounced than it has been for any other US Greco Olympian in quite some time. 

No one has risen from the deck quite like ‘18 World silver Adam Coon (130 kg, NYAC/Cliff Keen). When Coon exited Greco-Roman competition in ‘21, a changing of the guard at heavyweight quickly took place. Cohlton Schultz, who at that stage had lost to Coon at both Final X: Lincoln (‘19) and the ‘20 Olympic Trials, assumed command of 130 kg in the U.S. while simultaneously growing in both size and overall wrestling maturity. Schultz was not that far away from Coon before the latter’s exit to the NFL – and by the time Coon returned to action in ‘23, most within Greco expected Schultz to continue his reign at the top. He had acquired hardness, his footwork had reached a new level, and he was constantly facing high-quality opposition during Coon’s two-year hiatus. Such is how it went. Schultz defeated Coon in the ‘23 Open, at Final X: Newark, and at the ‘23 Nationals last December. Not one of these bouts were particularly close, though Coon did show glimpses of his old self in several instances. 

Away from the sights and sounds of big domestic tournaments, Coon relentlessly chipped away at his deficiencies with the help of former USA assistant National coach Momir Petkovic. He worked on building a more robust and stable base in his legs and shored up various positional issues that were hindering him against Schultz, and that which would certainly be exploited by overseas opponents. The key attribute that made this all possible for Coon was — is — humility. And none of it came very easily. Coon shunned the notion that he could rely on his previous mechanics to get past Schultz, which required a back-to-basics approach that was insisted upon by Petkovic. We are not discussing a 19-year-old prospect, but a 29-year-old elite wrestler who had already been in a World final. So many other athletes would have stubbornly kept going back to the same well. Coon did not. Rather, he did everything he could to fix what was broken, and it paid off with an Olympic berth that, for the time being, was just as impressive as his march to the World final some six years ago. 

The Tournament

While the heartbeats and brainwaves powering the American foursome are beholden to significance, this is still a results-oriented business. To that end, each of the four USA Olympians have experience against several of the competitors in their respective brackets and wield traits which may pave the way to possible podium trips. These items are explored below. 

*Note: Senior World/Olympic results only

77 kg

Entries

Mahmoud Abdelrahan (EGY)

Burhan Akbudak (TUR) – ‘22 World Champion, ‘21 World silver

Malkhas Amoyan (ARM) – ‘21 World Champion, 2X World bronze

Jair Cuero Munoz (COL)

Amin Kaviyaninejad (IRI)

Nao Kusaka (JPN) – ‘23 World bronze

Azkhol Makhmudov (KGZ) – 2X World Champion, ‘20 Olympic silver

Aik Mnatsakanian (BUL) – 2X World bronze

Zoltan Levai (HUN) – ‘22 World silver

Abelkerim Ouakali (ALG)

Yosvanys Pena Flores (CUB)

Jonni Sarkkinen (FIN)

Sanan Suleymanov (AZE) – 2X World silver

Aram Vardanyan (UZB) – ‘19 World silver

Demeu Zhadrayev (KAZ) – ‘17 World silver

Bey Prior Results vs. The Field

vs. Cuero Munoz – ‘18 (L, injury); ‘24 (L 6-4, L 6-6)

vs. Levai – ‘16 (L, 10-2); ‘23 (W, 7-3); ‘24 (L, 3-0)

vs. Makhmudov – ‘17 (W, 16-11); ‘18 (L, 8-1)

vs. Pena Flores – ‘19 (L, 3-1); ‘23 (W, 2-1, W, 4-3)

vs. Sarkkinen – ‘23 (W, 7-3)

vs. Suleymanov – ‘23 (L 4-1, L, 9-0)

Bey has faced six of the 15 other athletes in his bracket, totalling 14 matches with a combined record against this lot of 5-9. Each of these individuals are, naturally, among the top competitors in the world, with Makhmudov, Suleymanov, and Levai the most decorated. But this is a deceptive ledger given two factors: 1) several of these bout results occurred years ago; 2) Bey was competitive in most of his losses. It’s Greco-Roman wrestling. All it takes is either two multi-point techniques from the feet or a few gutwrenches to make an outcome appear more lopsided than it actually was. 

Bey’s most meaningful time-on-target are his recent affairs against the likes of Levai, Suleymanov, and Sarkkinen (who surprised many by gaining a berth at the European Qualifier). Levai is the man who had originally kept Bey out of Paris with a 3-0 do-nothing decision in Turkiye. In their previous match from July of ‘23, Bey outstruck and outpaced the Hungarian, at times even making it look easy. But in the Paris Olympic playoff this past May, Levai played it very tight and blocked, held, and pushed in order to avoid being rendered vulnerable to Bey’s attacks.   

Aside from Makhmudov and Suleymanov, who are both capable scorers, that is the key foreign opponents observe against Bey. They want to lock him up in the ties, wrangle two-on-ones, and then hope that they have a shot from passivity/par terre. Bey has yet to go against the likes of Mnatsakanian, who is a pace-pushing bruiser, but also content to let passivity dictate the scores. 

There are exciting potential match-ups on the table. Bey will not wear a seed in his bracket, which opens up the possibility for return matches opposite Levai, Suleymanov, Pena, and Makhmudov. Japan’s Kusaka – who has quickly become a force and is the top seed – would be a new opponent for Bey and likely willingly engage positions in which others are hesitant. 

Virtually everyone in the 77 kg bracket is cognizant of the dangers Bey poses. He has shown, over and over, that he will try to score from any position, even bottom par terre. They like to wrestle him in camps but not when the stakes are high. That, coupled with a knack for seizing momentum early in tournaments, is why one good early match for Bey could translate to a career-defining performance. 

87 kg

Entries

Zhan Belenyuk (UKR) – ‘20 Olympic Champion, 2X World Champion, multi-time World medalist

Turpal Bisultanov (DEN) – ‘22 World silver

Ali Cengiz (TUR) – ‘23 World Champion

Lasha Gobadze (GEO) – ‘19 World Champion, ‘21 World bronze

Rafiq Huseynov (AZE) – 2X World Champion, ‘20 Olympic bronze

Aleksander Komarov (SRB)

Arkadiusz Kulynycz (POL) – ‘21 World bronze

David Losonczi (HUN) – ‘23 World Champion, ‘22 World bronze

Mohamed Metwally (EGY)

Alireza Mohmadipiani (IRI) – ‘23 World silver

Carlos Munoz Jaramillo (COL)

Semen Novikov (BUL) – ‘23 World bronze

Haitao Quian (CHN)

Bachir Sid Azara (ALG)

Nursultan Tursynov (KAZ)

Jacobson Prior Results vs. The Field

vs. Cengiz – ‘24 (L, 3-1)

vs. Kulynycz – ‘24 (W, 1-1)

Youth and being new to 87 kg is why Jacobson is without a substantive sample size against his Olympic bracket. His match versus Cengiz unfolded in June at the Hungarian Grand Prix (Polyak Imre Memorial “Ranking Series”) and, for those uninitiated, demonstrated why it pays not to get hung on inexperience or a lack of data points. Jacobson lost a solid, high-level match to a World champ and made his presence felt throughout. It was not the least bit surprising, either. At Thor Masters in March, where Jacobson made his 87 kg debut (with a 2 kg allowance), he stared down the likes of Vjekoslav Luburic (CRO), Kulynycz, and Istvan Takacs (HUN). He was clipped by Luburic, beat Kulynycz, and pressed Takacs (who would be the #1 guy at 87 for HUN if not for sitting behind World gold Losonczi). This was over a month before the Olympic Trials, where Jacobson out-hustled every major name standing in his way. 

The question pertaining to Jacobson has nothing to do with whether or not he is on the same level as his Olympic Games counterparts. He is. Clearly. Rather, the primary x-factor surrounding his candidacy is defense. A tired trope it is, par terre, but that is what it often comes down to. The pressure Jacobson brings is problematic for opponents because it is not bereft of purpose. He does not “wade” into tie-ups, but instead attacks in and through the ties, essentially suffocating opponents’ movement and compelling back-steps and fleeting off-balances. Turning those situations into scores from the feet, even if they are step-outs, can put him in the driver’s seat against anyone in Paris. But defending is where it’s at. All day long. And 87 kg is crammed with guys who make a living almost exclusively from par terre top. 

Although Jacobson has attended several overseas training camps and, as mentioned, has competed a couple of times internationally in this weight category, it is fair to wonder if he is being underestimated. All of the guys at 77 are intimately familiar with who Bey is, just like most at 97 know Rau, and certainly everyone at 130 understands what Coon has to offer. Jacobson by comparison to his teammates is fresh blood for his weight category. Even if they have had a few go’s with him at camps, they are not quite sure what they are getting themselves into once the whistle blows. When they find out, it might bring upon the startling realization that there is little room to breathe. 

Jacobson has come this far this quickly by daring to be great. In a tournament that often sees the best of the best tighten into knots, thereby leading to timidity and hesitance that is outside the norm of their competitive behaviors, all he has to do is maintain the same attitude that has accompanied his earning of this prestigious opportunity. Just that alone could be enough for the US to have a medalist in this weight category. 

97 kg

Entries

Artur Aleksanyan (ARM) – ‘16 Olympic Champion, ‘20 Olympic silver, ‘12 Olympic bronze, 4X World Champion

Rustam Assakalov (UZB) – ‘19 World bronze, ‘15 World silver

Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (KGZ)

Mohamed Gabr (EGY)

Mikheil Kajaia (SRB) – 2X World bronze

Abubakar Khaslakhanov (AIN)

Robert Kobliashvili (GEO) – 2X World bronze

Kim Seung-Jun (KOR)

Kevin Mejia Castillo (HON)

Lucas Lazogianis (GER)

Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (CUB) – ‘23 World Champion

Fadi Rouabah (ALG)

Mohammdhadi Saravi (IRI) – ‘21 World Champion, ‘20 Olympic bronze, 2X World bronze

Arvi Savolainen (FIN)

Mindaugas Venckaitis (LTU)

Rau Prior Results vs. The Field

vs. Aleksanyan – ‘24 (L, 9-0)

vs. Castillo – ‘16 (W, 6-0; L, 8-0); ‘23 (W, injury def.; L, 7-2)

vs. Rosillo – ‘24 (L, 8-0)

vs. Saravi – ‘24 (L, 10-1)

Rau is a slightly-different competitor at 97 kg with a same-day weigh-in than he was eight years ago when the weight category was 98 with a day-before weigh-in. Part of that is age, as Rau is now 33. The other part is that he is more shrewd and fluid in terms of how he moves his feet. It used to just be the “Rau plow” – in on the wrists, staggered stance, deep step, and shoulder-pounding forward. That method is still there on occasion, but more nuance is detectable throughout most of his tactics. Rau has always favored a two-on-one, but he would bully the hold as much as try to open up a drag or find a crease in which to lock his hands. In this latest iteration of his career, Rau seems more patient in this position which allows him a second or two to sense what the playback might be from his opposition. 

Rau’s previous match-up results against the four athletes in his bracket likely do not inspire a great deal of confidence at first glance. Except – Aleksanyan will one day stroll directly into the Hall of Fame, Rosillo is the reigning World champ (having taken out the Armenian), and Saravi is also a World titlist (‘21). These were not bad losses for Rau if only because they all had one thing in common: par terre. Just as it is with nearly every American, par terre defense has been a vulnerability for Rau, an issue that is all-the-more compounding since it is a strength for the majority of foreigners. No athlete at 97 can do much to Rau on the feet. If anything, he is towards the top of the class when the action is standing. Ask Saravi. Rau blitzed behind Saravi off an arm drag to reach-around in June and was in prime position to gather a big score against the Iranian – and would have if not for Rau’s feet becoming inadvertently disrupted by Saravi’s. It was one moment in one match, and it was a match that Rau eventually lost, but the manner in which he so speedily exploited an opening against one of the best wrestlers in the world demonstrated his effectiveness on the feet. 

However, when it comes to Rau, mentality is more vital than any position or technique. One might venture to opine that even par terre ceases in importance compared to the firings (or misfirings) coming from Rau’s neurons. Rau once upon a time said that he does his best wrestling “brain off”, which means that he is not clouded by over-thinking or stressing the circumstances (again, this is why so many relate to him). In all honesty, much of this past season it has appeared that Rau has often been way too “brain on”. He does not need that baggage anymore. He is where he has always wanted to be. Everything of which Rau has dreamt, and for which he has so passionately worked, has come to pass. He is in the Olympics. For a guy who wrestles his absolute best when enjoying himself, here is hoping that, one more time, he remembers to hit the switch to “brain off”. At this stage of his career, he deserves that much. Moreover, doing so would turn him into a medal contender. 

130 kg

Entries

Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (CHI) – ‘17 World bronze

Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu (ROU)

Oussame Assad (MAR)

Muhammet Bakir (TUR)

Jello Krahmer (GER)

Mantas Knystautas (LTU) – ‘21 World bronze

Lee Seung-Chan (KOR)

Mijain Lopez (CUB) – 4X Olympic Champion, 5X World Champion

Lingzhe Meng (CHN)

Kiril Milov (BUL) – 2X World silver

Amin Mirzazadeh (IRI) – ‘23 World Champion, ‘22 World silver

Abdelatif Mohamed (EGY) – ‘23 World bronze

Heiki Nabi (EST) – 2X World Champion, ‘12 Olympic silver, multi-time World medalist

Sabah Shariati (AZE) – ‘16 Olympic bronze

Alimkhan Syzdykov (KAZ)

Coon Prior Results vs. The Field

vs. Acosta Fernandez – ‘19 (L, 8-0); ‘20 (L, 3-2)

vs. Alexuc-Ciurariu – ‘23 (L, 3-1)

vs. Meng – ‘18 (W, via fall); ‘19 (L, 3-1); ‘20 (L, 4-2)

vs. Lee – ‘14 (W, 8-5)

vs. Mohamed – ‘24 (L, 3-1)

The adjustments Coon had made to get past Schultz at the Olympic Trials were important because they should carry over onto the foreign landscape. This is not always the case. In the U.S., athletes sometimes have to make tweaks to their games in order to defeat other Americans, but these fixes do not always translate overseas. It was necessary for Coon to re-train his posture and his legs so as to more consistently grasp better traction positionally with his feet. Schultz was compelling Coon to plod and lean, or take extra steps, and this would open up Coon to off-balances, or worse. In the past, Coon could make up for leaning over by wrapping his arms around guys and seeing where that might take him. This usage of the over/under – the position that aided Coon’s run to the World final in ‘18 – became too predictable, and perhaps resulted in his also becoming too comfortable with playing the plodding game. Any smart opponent would generate counter-pressure as soon as they felt Coon’s weight shift forward and then release said pressure, thus causing the former Wolverine’s footwork to betray him. 

That over/under of Coon’s can work even better now, but more as a setup position than an attack. When his hips are in and his knees are bent, this same position will permit him to divy off into other ties. When he leans with his hips out, his choices are very limited, plus he is vulnerable. Coon is such a smart and tremendous wrestling athlete that he never needed to rely on one position, but he can hardly be blamed for failing to abandon something that was clearly very effective. 

Better news on the Coon front is that in the aftermath of the Olympic Trials he has made improvements to his gutwrench (Jacobson’s is likewise said to have been markedly bolstered). Coon has long been the owner of an excellent gutwrench by domestic standards and a suitable one for international competition. When you look at the list of his previous results against ‘24 Olympians, most of those losses are simply due to him getting turned once without him scoring an offensive point from par terre. So tight are the margins at heavyweight that a single gutwrench is (far too) often the line of demarcation separating victory from defeat. 

Similar to Rau, Coon is among the best in his weight class on the feet. And all this means is that he might have opportunities to get wins provided he can manage one turn from top. Defensively, Coon has been right around average for 130 kg. The wrestlers to whom he has surrendered points from bottom par terre are the types who score on everyone else, as well. That is not a bad benchmark. 

With multi-time World Champion Riza Kayaalp and two-time Olympic bronze Sergey Semenov (who defeated Coon for World gold in ‘18) both out of the tournament, the 130 kg field in Paris has been condensed. There is space here for a few wrestlers to step up, so long as they have the experience and all-around skill sets to remain in the running. Not everyone in the bracket fits that description. Coon does. All bets are off at heavyweight – and after the round of 16, this thing might be a mess. Coon has wrecked a World-level tournament before. The adjustments he has made, and the rededication of his efforts over the past year, suggest that he can do it again.